The Battle Ends
"The Battle Ends" is the twenty-sixth episode of the Vegeta Saga and the twenty sixth overall episode in the original Saban dub of the Dragon Ball Z series. It aired in first-run syndication on May 24, 1997. Summary Vegeta's body falls out of the sky and lands near Goku, Gohan and Krillin, startling them. Thinking he is dead, Yajirobe cheekily gloats about their victory while Krillin contemplates digging a grave for Vegeta, but Vegeta suddenly wakes up and injures Krillin as Yajirobe hides again. Vegeta, though badly damaged and on the brink of passing out, forces himself towards Goku and Gohan with the intent of finishing them off. Suddenly, he releases all of his energy, destroying much of the nearby land. Goku, Gohan and Krillin are knocked around a bit, but remain relatively unharmed due to Vegeta's decreased energy. Desperate to stay awake, Vegeta flies over to Gohan, prepared to finish him off next, though he if stopped by a painful sight: Gohan's tail has grown back, and with the Blutz Waves emanating from the Power Ball, he could transform at any moment. Vegeta begins to gather energy to remove Gohan's tail, but before he can do it, Yajirobe cuts into Vegeta's armor across the back with his sword. Vegeta is injured further, and falls to the ground. Yajirobe starts gloating over his fallen opponent, but Vegeta rises again and starts walking towards him. Unable to connect with his sword a second time, Yajirobe tries to apologize to Vegeta, saying his words were meant as a joke. Angry at Yajirobe for having injured him, Vegeta starts beating him up repeatedly. Goku sees this distraction as an opportunity. In a last-ditch strategy, he instructs Gohan to look up at the Power Ball. Gohan does, and begins his transformation into a Great Ape. A panicked Vegeta tries to prevent the transformation but to no avail, and Gohan begins to wreak havoc. Being half-human, Gohan is slightly more easily reasoned with as a Great Ape than Goku, and with Krillin and Yajirobe cheering him on, he directs his attacks towards Vegeta. Vegeta focuses all his power into staying clear of Gohan long enough to cut off his tail. None of his efforts even slow Gohan down, however, he finds a chance to remove Gohan's tail with one of his own Destructo Disc. Due to being weakened and not having enough time, Vegeta fails to get clear of the falling Gohan as he starts to return to normal and is crushed under Gohan's massive body. This last blow being more than he could deal with, Vegeta activates his space pod to retrieve him using a small remote control device. In the ruins of East City, a number of radiation-suited investigators are gathered around Vegeta and Nappa's space pods, when Vegeta's pod becomes active and flies away. Krillin sees it approaching and realizes Vegeta is trying to get away. Crawling towards the pod, Vegeta is angered for letting himself be defeated to easily. Visibly limping, Krillin moves in to eliminate Vegeta with Yajirobe's katana. Barely able to move, Vegeta is unable to defend himself against Krillin's attack. However, a telepathic plea from Goku stops Krillin just short of Vegeta's face. As Vegeta pulls himself inside the pod, Goku says that being him to close to death makes him think about what a waste taking away his life would be. Krillin reluctantly allows Vegeta to go, saying he hopes Goku is right about this decision. Watching over the conversation, King Kai also hopes Goku is right. Swearing revenge, Vegeta closes the pod and blasts off into space. Krillin carries the unconscious Gohan over to Goku, and soon after, Bulma and the others arrive in an airship. Major events *Gohan transforms into a Great Ape and defeats Vegeta. *Vegeta cuts off Gohan's tail. *Goku tells Krillin to spare Vegeta's life. *Vegeta leaves Earth. Battles *Yajirobe vs. Vegeta *Gohan (Great Ape) vs. Vegeta Changes *Blood has been removed from all characters. Trivia *There is no next episode preview. *The original Japanese version of the equivalent of this episode ended with Vegeta's ship leaving. Master Roshi and company didn't arrive until the next episode. *In various shots of Yajirobe's sword, the number of yellow diamonds on the handle is inconsistent. This was not fixed in Dragon Ball Kai. *This episode was not included on Pioneer's Saiyan conflict boxset, despite the fact it is part of the Saiyan Saga. Instead it was on the Namek Saga boxset. Gallery External links *IMDb page for "The Battle Ends (1997)" *Review of the episode's censorship *Review of the episode's censorship Site Navigation Category:Episodes Category:Dragon Ball Z episodes Category:Edited Dragon Ball Z episodes Category:Vegeta Saga Category:Dragon Ball Z